This cast dates from September 29th 1963:Macbeth: William DooleyLady Macbeth: Gladys KuchtaMacduff: James KingBanco: Peter LaggerMalcolm: Loren DriscollDama: Marina TürkeMedico: Fritz HoppeDomestico: Franz PohlmannSicario: Leopold ClamApparizioni: Helmut Reppenhagen, Christa Willenberg, Erika BenadeChor und Orchester der Deutschen Oper Berlin, Chorus Master: Walter Hagen-GrollConductor: Mario Rossi

Mario Rossi leads a very incisive, effective performance of Verdi's opera. Perhaps because he comes from a different tradition he doesn't make the same irritating cuts that many German conductors do in this music. We get all the Witches' choral music in the first scene as well as the repeat in Lady Macbeth's "Or tutti, sorgete" cabaletta (still almost always cut today.) There are gaps in the original tape: the first couple of minutes of Act Two are missing and we pick up just as "La luce langue" is beginning. The Apparitions in the Act Three Witches' scene are missing. We get the Witches' opening chorus and pick up as Macbeth is reviving from his faint. The two leads are superb. Dooley is an intense, psychotic Macbeth who sings his music extremely well. Kuchta handles all her role's coloratura demands expertly. She even has a good trill when she needs it. Her Sleepwalking scene is particularly moving because she doesn't overdo it. If her penultimate D-flat isn't perfect (it takes a moment to get up to the correct pitch), no matter - at least she tried! King contributes a strong Macduff, singing his aria with imagination and sensitivity. Lagger is an excellent Banquo.The sound (probably from a broadcast) is very listenable, the voices clearly heard. I thought at first this was the soundtrack to a TV film as there is little applause, but that changes as the performance continues. This opera goes very well in German.